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Pyramid subcontracting and moral detachment: Down-sourcing risk and responsibility in the management of transnational labour in Asia

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  • Amanda Wise

Abstract

Major transformations in the organisation of labour are having a profound effect on the moral character of the labour-capital contract. Using two small case studies undertaken in Singapore as a starting point, this article reflects on the moral economies of supply chain capitalism. Detailing examples of the human impacts of down-sourcing risk through ‘flexible’ modes of transnational employment, it analyses the strategies whereby firms and governments distance themselves from these consequences. Precarious forms of employment based on pyramid subcontracting arrangements allow a disruption of the moral relation (however tenuous) that is present in traditional face-to-face employment arrangements. The article explores four strategies of moral detachment on the part of the employers, contractors and brokers in the supply chain.

Suggested Citation

  • Amanda Wise, 2013. "Pyramid subcontracting and moral detachment: Down-sourcing risk and responsibility in the management of transnational labour in Asia," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 24(3), pages 433-455, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:24:y:2013:i:3:p:433-455
    DOI: 10.1177/1035304613498027
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Rawling, 2015. "Legislative regulation of global value chains to protect workers: A preliminary assessment," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 660-677, December.
    2. Josip Franić, 2019. "Explaining workers’ role in illegitimate wage underreporting practice: Evidence from the European Union," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(3), pages 366-381, September.
    3. Yea, Sallie, 2022. "The produced injured: Locating workplace accidents amongst precarious migrant workmen in Singapore," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign workers Singapore; globalisation; human rights; Indian foreign workers low-paid workers; migrant labour; migration; neo-liberalism; precarious work; racism; supply chain; vulnerable workers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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